Page 14 of Her Top Dog
IknewNina… even though we hadn’t had much time together, I knew what she responded to. She loved being the mouse, even if she was the top dog in the office. She wanted to be chased, captured, then deliciously, slowly tortured… by me. And not having me pursuing her was the best thing I could have done to help her realize what she wanted.
“So, you missed me?” I asked. “Is there anything you want to do about that?”
She squirmed, and I could see in her body language that she was searching for the courage to answer. Harley tugged again and I reached for the leash, giving her a quick pull back into Nina’s side. “You have to be firm with her,” I said, leaning in. “She’s pretty headstrong, so you need to let her know who’s boss.”
I looked down, now dangerously close to Nina, and our mouths were nearly lined up as she exhaled. I became acutely aware of her breath, shallow little pants that caused her breasts to heave. Her eyes, pupils dilated and eyelids hooded, dropped to look at my lips. She wanted me to kiss her… she wanted me to take her.
But I needed her to say it. To admit she had feelings for me too. She didn’t need to be in love with me yet… that could come later.But, step one: Nina, tell me you want me.“Just say it,” I whispered. “Say the words and we’ll go to HRright now.”
“Sam, I… I love—oh!” Harley yanked free of Nina’s hold and took off running into the park.
Chapter 8
Nina
No!This couldn’t get any worse. Just as I realized how much I ached for Sam, missed him, maybe even loved him… I lost his fucking dog!
“Harley!” I yelled, taking off behind Sam who was already several steps ahead of me, running. He was a hell of a lot faster without these stupid stilettos. I paused, hopping to take them off, and tossed them aside before running faster to catch up with Sam and Harley.
“Harley, come! Come here, girl!” I shouted.
I finally caught up to Sam where he had paused in the middle of the wooded area of the park. No one else was around, most people opting to sunbathe in the grassy lawn area. “Fuck!” Sam shouted. “She’s never done that before. What the hell got into her?” He cupped his hands around his mouth and called for her again.
Emotion clenched in my jaw as a tear spilled over my cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
He didn’t turn to look at me, but I felt as his hand snaked behind him and clamped onto mine. “It’s not your fault.”
“I’ll find her. I’ll stay out here all day and night if I have to—”
Wait.I dug in my purse, tugging free the to-go meat and cheese plate I had put together for my lunch and tore open the sandwich bag, holding up a piece of cheese. “Treats,” I said, handing one to Sam. “Dogs like cheese, right?”
“Like? They love cheese. Especially Harley.” He held up the cheese and called out for her again. “Treat, Harley!”
From deeper in the trees, I saw a blur of fur come bounding toward us, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Oh, thank God. She was okay. Sam bent, scooping up her leash, but we both grew concerned when she ignored the cheese and instead pulled us both deeper toward the woods.
“Harley?” Sam asked. “What is it?”
She whimpered and pulled harder.
“I think we should follow her,” I said. “What if someone’s hurt?”
Sam nodded, grabbing my hand once more, and we let her guide us deeper through the trees. I heard the whimpering animals before I could see them. “Oh, my God,” Sam said and dropped to his knees.
There at the base of a tree, Harley was sitting over two puppies and a mother dog. They were significantly smaller than Harley—some sort of small mutt mix—and the mother was licking at a deep gash in her leg as the puppies nursed.
Sam immediately rushed to help, giving Harley a quick pet on the head. “Good girl, Harley. Good girl,” he cooed and fed the piece of cheese to the mother dog who gobbled it up quickly. She was thin… too thin, and I dug in my purse for a bottle of water, offering it to her in my cupped hands.
“Save me some of that water,” Sam said. “to wash her cut.” He tugged his tie off from around his neck and cleaned the gash on her leg before wrapping his tie around the cut.
My heart squeezed watching him jump into action, caring for the dogs. Any hesitancy I had regarding him—us—washed away with the dirt on her leg.
“I’m going to try to carry her back to the set. Do you think you can carry the puppies?” He didn’t wait for my answer, just kept on talking. “I think they’ll be okay if we can get them to a vet as soon as possible. And even if we can’t hold onto Harley’s leash, I think she’ll follow us back now that she found them. She must have heard their cries.”
“Sam,” I whispered, placing my palm on his arm. His gaze snapped to me, startled at my touch. “I love you.”
He blinked, surprised by the shift in tone. “I love you, too.”
He gingerly handed me the puppies who wriggled for a moment, but quickly fell asleep in my arms. Then, gently, he hoisted the mama dog into his arms and stood.
